Bedell's 3 TDs carry Floyd over Connetquot
Floyd's Stacey Bedell (21) puts his shoulder into would-be Connetqout tacklers in the first half. (Oct. 23, 2010) Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
This was no leisurely drive to observe the fall foliage along the way. No, this was a grueling drive, filled with congestion and roadblocks, and with little room to maneuver. For Floyd, it turned into rush hour on a Saturday afternoon.
The Colonials, trailing 20-19, ran the football 16 straight times, used up 7:58 on the clock and scored on Stacey Bedell's 9-yard dash with 1:59 remaining. Bedell added the two-point conversion as Floyd defeated Connetquot, 27-20, Saturday before a homecoming crowd of more than 2,800 fans at Floyd that left both teams at 5-2.
"It was very nerve-wracking," said Bedell, who rushed for 197 yards on 28 carries, including earlier TD runs of 45 and 53 yards.
Floyd made no secret it would be running the ball with Bedell and Luke Miller (19 carries, 134 yards including a 52-yard TD run). The Thunderbirds were braced for the collisions and looked to initiate the contact as often as possible.
"I told the kids when we got the ball back that we just needed one long drive. We didn't need to rush. We just needed to move the chains," Floyd coach Paul Longo said. "They had tough kids. It was a great drive."
The toughest kid of all was Connetquot linebacker Mike Pellegrino who disrupted Floyd's offense all afternoon. He was such a force on defense that he made 10 tackles even though Floyd tried to run away from him whenever possible.
"It was a chess match with where he lined up. Pellegrino was awesome," Longo said. "On that fourth-down play, I used an old trick: 'Twins' - two wide receivers on the same side of the field. I hoped [Pellegrino] would think something was up and shift over a little."
The ruse worked and on fourth-and-3 from the T-birds' 31 with 2:31 left, Miller barreled through nice hole for 13 yards. On the next play, Bedell, who carried seven times on the game-winning drive, scored.
There was still enough time for Kevin Jadick (three TD passes) and Pellegrino (130 yards of total offense with a TD reception) to rally Connetquot. But Denis Feise's sack of Jadick for a 12-yard loss put the brakes on the T-birds. "I was just praying," said Miller, who had a sacked Jadick earlier. "I was a nervous wreck."
Miller also crashed through the Connetquot defense on a fourth-and-1 on the 11th play of the drive when he followed 290-pound defensive tackle Anthony Tavarone - inserted as a man-in-motion blocking back - for 2-yard gain and another key first down.
The only play on that drive that didn't involve Miller or Bedell was when quarterback A.J. Otranto, forced to scramble on second-and-19 after a holding penalty, zig-zagged for 15 big yards that kept the drive alive.
"Second-and-long; fourth-and-1; fourth-and-3 - it was a gut-check drive," Longo said.
And when Bedell accelerated into the end zone for the final time, he had answered the question all the Colonials were asking: "Are we there yet?"
